The Elton John and Rod Stewart Feud That Led to a Blimp Getting Shot Out of the Sky

As two British pop stars enjoying the height of their fame in the 1970s, Elton John and Rod Stewart often found themselves competing neck and neck for chart placements, record sales, bookings, and press. Their ongoing competition led to a hilarious “frenemy” rapport, with each musician taking every chance they could to tease or prank the other in the public eye. Thankfully, both artists proved their thick skin as they developed a strong love and admiration for one another underneath their snide, cheeky interactions.

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But love and admiration or not, that didn’t stop Elton John from seizing an opportunity to shoot Rod Stewart’s promotional blimp out of the sky.

Elton John Hired A Sniper To Shoot Down A Rod Stewart Blimp

The tongue-in-cheek rivalry between Elton John and Rod Stewart seemed to match their ascents to fame, peaking in the 1980s as the two musicians enjoyed the height of their celebrity (while being playfully dismissive of the other’s). One such occurrence happened when Stewart landed a five-night residency at Earls Court. “I wasn’t happy about the fact that he was playing for five nights,” John recalled in a 2019 interview with Graham Norton. From his hotel room at The Inn on the Park, now the Four Seasons in London, John could see a giant blimp with Stewart’s face on it floating in the sky.

“So, I rang up [my manager] John Reed and said, ‘Rod’s got a blimp by Earls Court. Can we get it down?’” John recalled. “I didn’t have to say anything else, and he mysteriously got it, I think shot down. The next time I looked, the next day, it wasn’t there. So, I rang Rod up and said, ‘Oh, dear. Can you see your balloon? Your blimp from where you are?’ ‘Oh, yes, dear, I can. Isn’t it fabulous?’ He looked out the window and said, ‘You b******.’” In a piece published in the Daily Mail, John added, “Apparently, [the blimp] landed on top of a double-decker bus and was last seen heading towards Putney.”

It didn’t take long for Stewart to get his revenge. The next year, when John was playing at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Stewart managed to get a promotional banner for John’s concert torn down within minutes of it being put up. “I learned this had happened from Rod, who seemed curiously well-informed,” John wrote. “‘Such a shame about your banner, love. I heard it wasn’t even up five minutes. I bet you didn’t even get to see it.’”

A Decades-Long Friendly Rivalry

Over their many years of pranks and teasing, Rod Stewart and Elton John developed an enduring friendship. One of John’s first public appearances when he got out of rehab was at one of Stewart’s gigs at Wembley Stadium, where John arrived in full drag and sat on the singer’s lap while he sang “You’re In My Heart.” John recalled, “I’d been told I shouldn’t do any work. I should concentrate on getting well. But spoiling things for Rod has never felt like work, more a thoroughly enjoyable hobby.”

During his 2019 interview with Graham Norton, John said he and Stewart had “wonderful memories” together. “He and I have laughed so much over the years. He has a great sense of humor. We’ve both got the same sense of humor. I’ve had more laughs with Rod than anybody else probably.”

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